Tag Archives: Tim DeLaughter

When a Tripping Daisy bandmate overdosed in 1999, it affected frontman Tim DeLaughter in more ways than one. For starters, it led to the breakup of the group, but the death also prompted DeLaughter to find religion in places other than a church, like the trees and the sun. And then, along with Tripping Daisy bandmates Jeff Bouck (percussion), Mark Pirro (bass) and Bryan Wakeland (drums), he formed the massive chamber-pop group the Polyphonic Spree. The new band began as just 12 musicians before soon blossoming into a 24-piece, with a 10-person choir, wild stage shows, some electronic effects and DeLaughter as the musical director and lead vocalist. On their recently released Holidaydream: Sounds of the Holidays, Vol. One (stream it below), the Polyphonic Spree go with fairly traditional covers of many of the classics, while still managing to put their own trippy psych-pop spin on tunes like “Do You Hear What I Hear?” and “Silver Bells.” And you can expect to hear plenty of that holiday cheer during one set, plus a healthy dose of rock in the second when the Polyphonic Spree bring their Holiday Extravaganza tour to Webster Hall on Saturday.

When Tripping Daisy guitarist Wes Berggen overdosed on drugs in 1999, it affected frontman Tim DeLaughter in more ways than one. For starters, it led to the breakup of the band, but Berggen’s death also prompted DeLaughter to find religion in places other than a church, like the trees and the sun. And while Berggen was now dead, the music was not. So DeLaughter, along with Tripping Daisy bandmates Jeff Bouck (percussion), Mark Pirro (bass) and Bryan Wakeland (drums), formed the massive chamber-pop group the Polyphonic Spree. This new band began as just 12 musicians before soon blossoming into a 24-piece, with a 10-person choir, a large variety of instruments, some electronic effects and DeLaughter as the musical director and lead vocalist. Since then, the Polyphonic Spree (above, doing “Light & Day”) has put out three LPs, three EPs and three live DVDs, and they play Webster Hall tomorrow.